Afghanistan

Bit By Bit, Afghanistan Rebuilds Buddhist Statues

The larger of the two Buddha statues that towered over the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan. This photo was taken before a 2001 Taliban campaign that destroyed Buddha statues throughout Afghanistan. International teams are now working to restore the sixth century statues.

Afghan girls walk past scaffolding at the site of one of the destroyed Buddha statues in this 2008 photo. Some Bamiyan residents support the restoration project. Others say the statues should not be rebuilt, to remind people of the Taliban's fanaticism.

Afghan children living in a small cave near the destroyed Buddha statues, in 2006. Homeless people in the area sometimes move into the caves. They say that new homes are more important than restoring the Buddhas.

The larger of the two Buddha statues that towered over the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan. This photo was taken before a 2001 Taliban campaign that destroyed Buddha statues throughout Afghanistan. International teams are now working to restore the sixth century statues.

Zaheeruddin AbdullahAP

When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan a decade ago, they were fanatical about eliminating everything they considered un-Islamic.

Their biggest targets — literally and figuratively — were the two monumental Buddha statues carved out of the sandstone cliffs in central Afghanistan. One stood nearly 180 feet tall and the other about 120 feet high, and together they had watched over the dusty Bamiyan Valley since the sixth century, several centuries before Islam reached the region.

Despite international opposition, the Taliban destroyed the statues with massive explosions in 2001. At the time they were blown up, the statues were the largest Buddha carvings in the world, and it seemed they were gone for good.

But today, teams from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, along with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, are engaged in the painstaking process of putting the broken Buddhas back together.

Up to half of the Buddha pieces can be recovered, according to Bert Praxenthaler, a German art historian and sculptor, who has been working at the site for the past eight years. He and his crew have sifted through 400 tons of rubble and have recovered many parts of the statues along with shrapnel, land mines and explosives that were used in their demolition.

But how do you rebuild the Buddhas from the rubble?

"The archaeological term is 'anastylosis,' but most people think it's some kind of strange disease," said Praxenthaler.

For those in the archaeology world, "anastylosis" is actually a familiar term. It was the process used to restore the Parthenon of Athens. It involves combining the monument's original pieces with modern material.

On a recent day, Praxenthaler was leading a group through a tunnel behind the niche where the smaller of the two statues once stood.

"We are now on top of the Buddha," he explained. "There was just a wall and a small opening to sit on the top, or the head, of the Buddha. But now there is no head."

The workers were busy removing scaffolding after months spent reinforcing the wall where the Buddha's head once was.

Mixed Feelings About Project

Bamiyan is an extremely poor and remote land in one of the world's most underdeveloped countries. The Buddha statues were once a major tourist attraction, but Afghanistan has been at war virtually nonstop for more than three decades. The fighting drove away the tourists years before the Taliban blew up the statues.

The restoration project is designed to rebuild the historic site, as well as bring back the tourists. The project has the support of Habiba Sarabi, the popular provincial governor. And there are reasons to be hopeful. Bamiyan is now considered one of the less dangerous places in Afghanistan.

Yet others, like human rights activist Abdullah Hamadi, say the empty niches where the Buddhas stood are a reminder of the Taliban's fanaticism, and should be left as they are.

"The Buddha was destroyed," said Hamadi. "If you made it, rebuilt it, that is not the history. The history is the broken Buddha."

Hamadi is from the nearby district of Yakawlang, where the Taliban massacred more than 300 members of a minority group, called the Hazaras, in 2001. Those killings took place just two months before the Taliban blew up the Buddha statues.

While Bamiyan is much safer today, the Taliban can still strike. Recently, Taliban insurgents kidnapped and beheaded Jawad Zahak, the head of the Bamiyan provincial council, while he was driving his family toward Kabul, about 150 miles to the southeast.

Some in Bamiyan say they would rather see the money for the restoration project go toward services like electricity and housing, which are in desperately short supply.

Homeless Take Shelter In Caves

In fact, the caves at the site of the Buddha statues are the only shelter some Bamiyan residents can find. Homeless villagers like Marzia and her six children are living in one of the caves, while the family's goats bleat nearby. Marzia, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said she has no use for the statues.

"We don't have a house, so where else can we live?" she said.

A few enterprising villagers have found ways to make money off the story surrounding the Buddhas. One is Said Merza Husain, known around town as the man who was forced to help the Taliban blow up the statues.

He said he had no choice but to obey the Taliban a decade ago. If he had resisted, they would have killed him. One of his friends refused to take part, and the Taliban shot him.

But that is the only information Husain will share for free. To hear more of the story, he charges anywhere between $20 and $100.

Meanwhile, Bert Praxenthaler's team was about to halt their work temporarily during the scorching Afghan summer. One longtime worker, Ali Reza, was picking up his pay. He signed his name and received a wad of Afghanis.

Praxenthaler also handed him a certificate and thanked him first in Dari, then in English. Piecing together Bamiyan's Buddhas will take many more years. After a summer break, Praxenthaler's team plans to resume their work in the fall.

This story was partly funded by a Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, host:

And I'm Mary Louise Kelly. Good morning.

A decade ago, when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, they blew up a pair of monumental Buddha statues that had watched over a valley since the sixth century. International teams are now trying to restore those statues. The project is seen as a way to attract tourists to the remote valley of Bamiyan, considered one of the safer parts of the country. But others say the rubble should remain untouched as a reminder of what life was like under the Taliban. From Bamiyan, Joanna Kakissis has the story.

JOANNA KAKISSIS: Bert Praxenthaler is leading people through a tunnel behind what was once the eastern Buddha statue of Bamiyan.

Mr. BERT PRAXENTHALER (Art Historian): We are now on top of the Buddha. There was just a wall and a small opening to go out to sit on the top or the head of the Buddha. But now there is no head, and all this kind of wall has been exploded.�

KAKISSIS: Praxenthaler is a German art historian and sculptor who has been working on this Buddha site for the past eight years. Today, workers are removing scaffolding. The team has spent months reinforcing the wall in the niche that once held one of the two monumental Buddha statues blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

Mr. PRAXENTHALER: And when all those tasks are accomplished, we can approach the reassembling. The archaeological term is anastylosis, but most people think it's some strange disease.

(Soundbite of laughter)

KAKISSIS: Anastylosis is actually not so strange in the archaeology world. It's how the Parthenon of Athens was restored. The process�involves combining the monument's original pieces with modern material.�

Praxenthaler and others working in Bamiyan say up to half the Buddha pieces can be recovered. He and his crew have sifted through 400 tons of rubble since 2004. They have recovered parts of the statues along with shrapnel, landmines and explosives.

Mr. PRAXENTHALER: You can imagine that was a very big tank mine. It's very heavy. And you have a lot of other of these materials. You see these shrapnels, and just over there the very interesting forms.

KAKISSIS: What is that?

Mr. PRAXENTHALER: It is just parts of the explosives that had been inside the debris of the Buddha.

KAKISSIS: Some in Bamiyan - including the popular provincial governor Dr. Habiba Sarabi - support the restoration as a way to revive the impoverished area.�Others, like human rights activist Abdullah Hamadi, say leaving the Buddhas as rubble will remind people of the Taliban's violence and fanaticism.

Mr. ABDULLAH HAMADI (Human Rights Activist): The Buddha was destroyed. If you made it, rebuilt it, that is not the history. The history is the broken Buddha.

KAKISSIS: Hamadi is from the nearby district of Yakawlang, where the Taliban massacred more than 300 Hazara two months before they blew up the Buddha statues in Bamiyan.�

Bamiyan is now the safest province in Afghanistan, but people still fear the Taliban. Some in the city of Bamiyan say they'd rather the see the money for the restoration project going to services like electricity and affordable housing.

Homeless villagers like Marzia squat in the caves on the Buddha site. Marzia, who only uses one name, doesn't care about the Buddhas. She tends a goat and takes care of six children alone.

MARZIA: (Foreign language spoken)

KAKISSIS: We don't have a house, she says. So where else can we live?

A few enterprising villagers do use the ruined Buddhas for business. One is Said Merza Husain, who is known around town as the man whom the Taliban forced to blow up the statues.

Mr. SAID MERZA HUSAIN: (Foreign language spoken)

KAKISSIS: We had to do this because the Taliban could kill us at any time, he says. One of my friends refused to destroy the Buddha, and the Taliban shot him.

But to get any more details about his story, he charges anywhere between 20 and $100.

Mr. HUSAIN: (Foreign language spoken)

KAKISSIS: Meanwhile, a few people in Bamiyan are making money putting the Buddhas back together. They work as laborers on Bert Praxenthaler's team. It's the last day on the site for longtime worker Ali Reza. He's here to pick up his payment. He signs his name and picks up a wad of afghanis.�Praxenthaler hands him a certificate and thanks him first in Dari, then in English.

Mr. PRAXENTHALER: (Foreign language spoken)

Mr. ALI REZA: (Foreign language spoken)

Mr. PRAXENTHALER: And I hope if you come again, it will be supporting again the team.

KAKISSIS: Piecing together the rubble of Bamiyan's Buddhas will take many years.�Like many rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan, it will also need a lot of patience and luck.�Bert Praxenthaler's team is hoping to be back at work here as early as this fall.